Hardware store all-stars: La., Maine and Md.

May 25, 2011

The Home Channel News coast-to-coast and state-by-state search for All-Star hardware stores turns to Louisiana, Maine and Maryland.

• LouisianaEd’s Shenandoah Hardware
If biology is destiny, Ed Beard is living proof that the hardware industry has the greater gravitational pull. The 36-year-old Handy Hardware dealer began working in the store at the age of 14. All through college, where he majored in biological sciences, he continued to work full time. Soon after graduation, he bought the store from his boss. Now Ed’s Shenandoah Hardware in Baton Rogue, La. bears his distinct imprint: niche categories like beekeeping supplies, hunting, fishing and archery; and local outdoor cooking appliances like banjo burners, crawfish boilers, jambalaya pots, and a full line of high-end grills and smokers. “We meet everyone at the door and take them where they need to go,” Beard said.

• MaineOak Hill Ace Hardware
“You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave” were lyrics from the hit song “Hotel California.” Oak Hill Ace Hardware in Scarborough is a little like that. You visit here one time and cannot leave because you do not want to, said general manager Dan Johnson. “We’re quick, we’re nice, we’re helpful,” he said. “So many people are wowed by how helpful we are.” Oak Hill is known for the depth and breadth of its lawn and garden products, paints, hand tools and power tools.

• MarylandStrosniders Hardware
From the Eisenhower administration to the present day, Strosniders Hardware has served the Washington, D.C., area with a strategy of service and convenience. Fifteen years ago, National Home Center News profiled the Bethesda, Md., location as a bona fide “Great American Hardware Store.” Today the company also operates in Potomac, Md., and Silver Spring, Md.

Next week, all-star profiles of Massachussets, Michigan and Minnesota.